By Mencap
This means that people being charged by their
Local Authority
A local authority is also called a
council
A council is also called a local authority. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live. These include: schools,
social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it.
(support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live like schools, social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
for care and support will be allowed to keep more of the income they receive from their benefits.
This increase, only the 2nd since MIG levels were introduced in 2015, will see some single working age adults being able to keep up to £820 per year extra in the bank accounts and, as a result, will also see the amount that they are charged for their care and support fall.
Mencap has been increasingly concerned about rapid rises in care charges in recent years which has led to many people with a
learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things.
being left with too little to live on.
This welcome announcement gives families some welcome breathing room as the cost of living soars. But it does not detract from the fact that the care charging system remains fundamentally unfair. People should not lose their benefits because they access social care, especially those with lifelong conditions that make it impossible to save or plan for their care costs.
Unfortunately, the care charging system remains fundamentally unfair and many people with a learning disability will still be left with too little to live on.
The Government
The Government are the people who run the country. The Government decide how much
tax
Tax is the money that pays for things like schools, hospitals and the police. There are different types of taxes like
income tax
Income tax is the money that is taken out of the money you earn every month. It helps to pay for things we all need like hospitals and schools.
,
VAT
VAT is also called Value Added Tax. VAT is the extra money you pay when you buy things. The money goes to the government to pay for things like schools and hospitals.
and
council tax
Council Tax is the money that people pay to the council. It helps to pay for things like social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
.
people should pay and how things like the National Health Service (
NHS
The NHS is the National Health Service. The NHS gives free healthcare to everyone in the UK and includes things like your GP (doctors) surgery and hospitals.
) should work.
have admitted they do not understand the impact of MIG on disabled adults, so they must now commit to reviewing the sufficiency of MIG levels and to longer-term reform of care charges to make them fairer.
We now need to see the government grasp the nettle and:
- Review the sufficiency of the new MIG levels to ensure they leave people with enough money to live on
- Reform care charges more widely, so that:
- Benefits can no longer be counted as income for the purposes of care charging
- Minimum income levels for disabled people are equalised with the higher amounts that over-65s are allowed to retain
- Local authority practices around the amount that disabled people are allowed to keep to pay for the additional costs of disability (Disability Related Expenditure) is reviewed to ensure that it fairly reflects actual additional costs
We will keep campaigning to build on this progress and ensure a fairer care charges system. We’re thinking about our next step – if you want to be part of future actions, sign up to be an everyday
activist
An activist is a person who campaigns to bring about change.
.
https://secure.mencap.org.uk/en-gb/pledge-be-everyday-activist-mencap